WHAT do post-it notes, the Rubik cube and bar codes all have in common?
They are all 50 years old.
It was just two years before those things were invented that Lady Mary Peters won her pentahtlon gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
That day changed her life but what many didn’t realise is it would change the lives of many more to come.
The late great Malcom Brodie, former Sports Editor of the Belfast Telegraph, asked Mary when she returned from Germany what she would most like to mark her success. Her response was she wanted a track built for others to be able to train on.
After that she went on to start her charity, the Mary Peters Trust which funds young athletes as they begin their journey to successful sporting careers.
Widely regarded as Northern Ireland’s leading sporting charity, the Trust has supported the likes of Rory McIlroy, Carl Frampton, Bethany Firth, Ciara Mageean and Graeme McDowell.
While Mary has enjoyed watching their huge success down through the years, nothing pleased her more than witnessing the most successful ever Olympic Games for athletes from Northern Ireland at this summer’s Paris Games.
Gold medalists Rhys McClenaghan, Hannah Scott and Daniel Wiffen were all beneficiaries of the Mary Peters Trust in their early sporting days before receiving Lottery funding.
You just have to listen to all their interviews about how much help the Trust was to them and how much of an inspiration Mary Peters has been to them to realise how great an influence she has been on our latest Olympic Champions.
And instead of missing being the last athlete from Northern Ireland to win an individual gold medal, Mary couldn’t be more proud of Rhys, Daniel, Hannah and Jack McMillian, along with the other medalists, Rebecca Shorten and Philip Doyle.
She came into the UTV studios the day Coleraine rower Hannah won her gold, which was the morning after Daniel and Jack had won gold in the pool the night before. Her face was beaming with joy and she explained to me that her taxi driver had talked to her the whole way about the gold medals. “Everyone is so happy for them, it’s all anyone is talking about and I am so, so proud of them,” she told me.
Mary went to Paris the next morning and saw more medals won first hand before attending homecomings in Coleraine, Newtownards and Armagh on her return.
Interviewing Rebecca Shorten and Philip Doyle live on UTV from Belfast Boat Club
In total seven medals came back to Northern Ireland – Daniel Wiffen (gold and bronze), Hannah Scott (gold), Rhys McClenaghan (gold), Jack McMillian (gold), Rebecca Shorten (silver) and Philip Doyle (bronze).
It was such a phenomenal achievement, especially considering the last gold medals to come back were from Stephen Martin and Jimmy Kirkwood as part of Team GB hockey team 36 years ago.
Mary Peters, winning the last individual gold until this summer, has played such a key part in helping pave the way for others, not just as an inspiration, not just through funding, but through her encouragement towards each and every athlete sets her apart.
She always has a word of encouragement for anyone she meets through sport. I’ll give you another example. My nail technician plays netball at club level, we were talking about the Olympics and she was telling me about the time Mary presented her team with an award. She said they were all so giddy around her as they were star struck but the main thing she remembered from that day several years ago were the encouraging words Mary spoke to them. What an amazing way to be, in a world filled with negativity, doubt and low self-worth, we need more Marys!
Whether it’s an Olympic gold medalist or a mum playing part time netball as a hobby, each sportsperson I talk to about Mary shares the same love and respect for her. A smile comes on their face as soon as I mention her name. But not as big as the smile that appeared on Mary’s face when the first individual gold medal was won by an athlete from here after 52 years. She’ll always be our Golden Girl but the next golden generation is finally here.
Some of Team Ireland’s medalists presented to the crowd at their Dublin homecoming
Back to back Olympic Champion Kellie Harrington addresses the 20,000 fans who came out to welcome home Team Ireland on O’Connell Street
With Newry’s Kate O’Connor after she made her Olympic debut in the Heptathlon
Catching up with Rhys as he and Team Ireland arrived back from Paris to a heroes’ welcome in Dublin… you can watch the full interview here:
https://www.itv.com/watch/news/never-giving-up-olympian-rhys-mcclenaghan-on-how-he-brought-home-the-gold/gqmzm3m
Fans were ripping barriers to get a glimpse of Rhys McClenaghan and his gold medal at the homecoming in Dublin
Interviewing Daniel Wiffen for UTV at the Team Ireland homecoming event in O’Connell Street Dublin
